How is the FCCJ/FSCJ RN program?

Planning to apply for this summer term. I dont know much about what actually goes on.

Just wondering for the people who are in it or who have taken it already, what did you do and learn semester by semester? Also, how difficult is it?
What is the schedule like?

I hear the first semester is a lot of book work and preparation and the second semester is when you start to do the clinicals and stuff.
I also heard from somebody that you to go to a psych ward or something and work with the crazy people

I dont really know anything about the day to day stuff, so thanks to anybody that answers.

You have clinicals all 4 semesters. The first term is challenging because of the sheer volume of information you need to learn. Also, when you walk out of your first test you will be thinking, "what the heck was THAT!?!"...and that is because nursing is not just learning the data, you need to apply it with the nursing process. The questions will be formulated to check your application of your knowledge. You will take 4 courses all term long. At the end of the term there is a HESI you will have to pass as well.

First term you will have clinicals for the second half of your techniques course. You will spend most of your time giving bed baths, performing assessments, and giving injections. There will be many care plans to write.

Second term is broken up into 8 week sections. For me, I did Psych first 8 weeks. Yes, you will have to go to a psych ward and do clinicals. The second 8 weeks is Adult Health I. Depending upon which hospital you get, you can do little more than what you did during 1st term or you may get the opportunity to do dressing changes (PICC lines, decubitus wounds, etc.), IV insertion, Foleys, NG tube insertion, IV med administration, IV piggybacks, etc.

I am waiting to register today for term III. The first 8 weeks will be OB (Care of Women and Infants) and the second 8 weeks will be Peds (Care of Children).

Term IV is Adult Health II for the vast majority of the term and shortly before you graduate you spend a few weeks in "Role Transformation" doing 12 hr shifts.

I can't tell you what the schedule is like for the day students because I am a EVE/WE student.

I can tell you that it can be overwhelming at times. Imagine having a test that covers 16 - 18 chapters!

The grading is different in nursing as well. 80% is a passing grade. 79.99% is an F. It takes a 93 to get an A.

Dec 7, '09

You learn all the procedures and stuff you have to do in the first 8 weeks of the program?
Or do they teach procedures to you as you go along with the clinicals?

What worries me the most is how do they even grade you on your clinicals?
Is there a grading sheet or something they use to deduct points if you dont do something right?
Seeing a 79.99 as a failing grade is gonna take some time to get used to.

Thanks for all that info. Sounds very challenging.
I wanna be as much prepared as I can when I get in... if I do get in.

Dec 7, '09

The whole point of Techniques is to teach you the skills you are going to need. In this course there are graded sheets to grade you on your performance (in the classroom setting). If you do not pass a skill, you are given a second opportunity (at a lesser grade) to pass. If you don't pass that, you are failed and cannot go to clinicals.

Clinicals are graded P/F. You will be required to get patient information prior to your clinical day, spend half the night putting together a careplan which will be graded by the clinical instructor. They are not "scored" per se, but you are to use the grading to improve on your next care plan submission. The clinical instructors report your P/F to the course instructor.

In Adult Health I, we have a teaching presentation that we do at clinicals and this is graded and the grade reported as part of the course. Before you go to clinicals in AH I, you will review NG tube insertion, IV, IV piggyback, Foley insertion and then be checked out on those skills. (Presumably because you will be expected to perform those tasks.)

Dec 7, '09

Thanks for all the help

Now I just need to study for the NAT and try to get at least 100pts from it.
I have 103pts from grades and Im aiming for at least 200pts total.

If people say its as easy as they say, I should be able to get the points, hopefully.
Have to get at least a 156 raw total points on it to get the 100.

Dec 7, '09

It's possible. I got 110 from the Nat.

Feb 24, '10

Is it true that when you retake the NAT it is the SAME test?
Im taking 1st one tomorrow. Should I do as much as I can then use the last minute to guess/fill in ones I didnt know or didnt get to?

I may have a full scholarship incl tuition, books, fees, and supplies for an LPN program. I am considering because it is free and then I would only have to pay for the bridge. Also, since it is so difficult for a new grad RN to get a job, it may benefit me in getting a job too? Any thoughts?

Has anyone heard good or bad about LPN at Keiser, Concord, or First Coast Technical Institute?

Is it true that when you retake the NAT it is the SAME test?
Im taking 1st one tomorrow. Should I do as much as I can then use the last minute to guess/fill in ones I didnt know or didnt get to?

I may have a full scholarship incl tuition, books, fees, and supplies for an LPN program. I am considering because it is free and then I would only have to pay for the bridge. Also, since it is so difficult for a new grad RN to get a job, it may benefit me in getting a job too? Any thoughts?

Has anyone heard good or bad about LPN at Keiser, Concord, or First Coast Technical Institute?

Thanks!

They are really expensive and not really worth the money. You can get a job as a tech after your first semester; all of the people I graduated with who were techs before got jobs right after graduation.

Jun 11, '10

Thx misswhitney! I applied with 200 points for Fall so I should get in I think! I was wondering about the PCT job too. Im glad you mentioned that. I will definately be doing that 2nd semester so I will have a good shot at a RN job after I graduate. I think that is the key to securing a job in this economy.

Thx!
Stacy

Jun 20, '10

I was just wondering what it was like for those of you already in the nursing program or currently a nurse that was fearful or hesitant of the whole sticking a needle in someone? Is it something that you just get past because it becomes so ordinary? What was the 'first time' experience like?

Jun 21, '10

st because it becomes so ordinary? What was the 'first time' experience like?[/QUOTE]

Ohhh I was so green my first semester, it was crazy. My teacher volunteered me for a blood draw and I just stared at her like she was crazy and I refused to do it. I suggest you let your professor know that you are fearful and start out by taking blood sugars and subq injections so you can get over that fear. Your confidence is what keeps a patient calm. Subq injections are so easy and the patient is probably already used to getting them. Most people are willing to let students give them a shot, because they themselves give themselves shots all the time. IM injections were different for me. I gave one in OB and then gave them practically every week in last term. I started my first IV my last term in nursing, and it was with another nurse, not my instructor and she talked me through it and calmed both me and the patient down, acting like I had done it before. You really get used to it. I stick someone every day I work and its like nothing now.